Only 13 percent of American voters say they are part of the Tea Party movement, a group that
has more women than men; is mainly white and Republican and voted for John McCain, and
strongly supports Sarah Palin, according to a Quinnipiac University national poll released today.

While voters say 44 - 39 percent that they will vote for a Republican over a Democratic
candidate in this November's Congressional elections, if there is a Tea Party candidate on the
ballot, the Democrat would get 36 percent to the Republican's 25 percent, with 15 percent for
the Tea Party candidate, the independent Quinnipiac (KWIN-uh-pe-ack) University poll finds.

By a 28 - 23 percent margin, American voters have a favorable opinion of the Tea Party,
with 49 percent who say they don't know enough about the group to form an opinion.

American voter opinion of the Democratic Party is 48 - 33 unfavorable, with opinion of
the Republican Party 42 - 33 percent unfavorable.

While 70 percent of all voters are "somewhat dissatisfied" or "very dissatisfied" with the
way things are going in America today, 92 percent of Tea Party members are dissatisfied.

Government does too many things better left to businesses and individuals, 54 percent of
all voters say, while 42 percent say government is not doing enough. Tea Party members say
83 - 15 percent that government is doing too much.

"The Tea Party movement is mostly made up of people who consider themselves
Republicans," said Peter A. Brown, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University Polling
Institute. "They are less educated but more interested in politics than the average Joe and Jane
Six-Pack and are not in a traditional sense swing voters."

"The Tea Party could be a Republican dream - or a GOP nightmare. Members could be a
boon to the GOP if they are energized to support Republican candidates. But if the Tea Party
were to run its own candidates for office, any votes its candidate received would to a very great
extent be coming from the GOP column," Brown added.

Looking at voters who consider themselves part of the Tea Party movement:

74 percent are Republicans or independent voters leaning Republican;

16 percent are Democrats or independent voters leaning Democratic;

5 percent are solidly independent;

45 percent are men;

55 percent are women;

88 percent are white;

77 percent voted for Sen. John McCain in 2008;

15 percent voted for President Barack Obama.

A total of 19 percent of American voters trust government to do the right thing "almost
all of the time" or "most of the time," compared to only 4 percent of Tea Party members.

While only 33 percent of all voters have a favorable opinion of Sarah Palin, 72 percent of
Tea Party members have a favorable opinion of her.

"Overall, this survey paints a picture of the Tea Party movement that encompasses a
broad swath of the American middle class, but clearly at this stage one that is a minority group.
In essence their numbers equate to about the size of the African-American electorate overall,"
said Brown.

Only 4 percent of voters making more than $250,000 per year consider themselves part of
the Tea Party movement, while percentages among all other age and income groups are close to
the 13 percent overall Tea Party affiliation.

From March 16 - 21, Quinnipiac University surveyed 1,907 registered voters nationwide
with a margin of error of +/- 2.2 percentage points. The survey includes 253 voters who say they
are part of the Tea Party movement, with a margin of error of +/- 6.2 percentage points.

The Quinnipiac University Poll, directed by Douglas Schwartz, Ph.D., conducts public
opinion surveys in Pennsylvania, New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Florida, Ohio and the
nation as a public service and for research.
For more data or RSS feed- http://www.quinnipiac.edu/polling.xml, call (203) 582-5201, or
follow us on Twitter.

2. If the 2010 election for the U.S. House of Representatives were being held
today, would you vote for the Republican candidate or the Democratic candidate
in your district?

3. Suppose a Tea Party candidate were running in your district. If the 2010
election for the U.S. House of Representatives were being held today, would you
vote for the Republican candidate, the Democratic candidate, or the Tea Party
candidate in your district?

50a. Some people seem to follow what's going on in government and public affairs
most of the time, whether there's an election or not. Others aren't that
interested. Would you say you follow what's going on in government and public
affairs most of the time, some of the time, only now and then, or hardly at all?

50c. Generally speaking, do you consider yourself a Republican, a Democrat, an
Independent, or what? (If Independent) Do you think of yourself as closer to the
Republican party or the Democratic party?